Playing With Fire
by GreyWardenMan37
Summary: The Origins of the beast, and how the unknown came to be. Told to Wirt many years after his adventure with Greg by a mysterious old man. A short story. This story is not at all canon. I do not own over the garden wall or its characters. [Insert legal junk here]. Please enjoy my story, and thank you for reading it.


"Yes, that's correct."

"Yep, the next shipment is going out to the stores on Monday"

"We're hoping to release the next model by the end of October, but really that's not up to my department."

"Okay, you have a good weekend now"

"Yes, I'll make sure of it"

"Good bye now"

Wirt, 28, important. He hangs up the phone with who knows what business something or another and shakes his head. He takes a sip of his drink and tosses his phone onto his desk. Only a moments rest before the phone rings again and he picks it back up and says hello. His name sat printed in fake gold on a plastic triangle atop his desk, the letters, executive VP of sales, engraved before it. A life of safety, and phone calls, and papers, and boredom. No clarinet or bassoon to be heard for years, no frogs to croak all around, and no singing from a little brother who's not so little anymore. No cone on his head, but a tie around his neck, Wirt sighs the weary sigh of a numbers man. The unknown but a distant memory now, confused as to what it was, a shared dream or a hallucination, the reality of it all but nonexistent in Wirt's office life. The unknown however is a peculiar thing, and peculiar things have a habit of only getting more and more peculiar as time eats away at them. For this phone call, is about as peculiar as it gets.

"Hello, this is Wirt Wood speaking from the New Tape corporation, how can I help you?"

The voice that came through was not like the usual dry and serious ones that came threw Wirt's phone speakers, this voice was wiser, seasoned with use, smelling of kindness, and feeling aged. "Yes so this is indeed Wirt Wood that I am speaking with correct?"

"Yes, that's correct." A select group of words Wirt found repeating far too many times through out the day in that specific order.

"Well Wirt, if I may call you that... I have something that I think you will find a great interest in, meet me at Shannon's Coffee house in an hour." Without a response from Wirt the man hung up, and a beeping sound came from the speakers on Wirt's phone.

Wirt looked at his phone with an eyebrow raised. This was not the type of phone call he was used to receiving, in fact, this was by far the most interesting phone call Wirt had received in as long as he could remember. How could he not humor this anonymous caller? Wirt tossed around the idea in his head. Who was this person? What did he want? What did he have that Wirt would find an interest in? Wirt grew excited at all the possibilities. He peeked at his watch, and then looked out the window. It was already dark out, it gets dark out earlier in the fall, and it would only keep getting darker sooner as fall slowly morphed into winter. Wirt loosened his tie and grabbed his jacket as he walked out his office door, headed for the windy streets below, and towards an idea of something he thought he had long forgotten.

Wirt made it to the coffee shop with time to spare. He looked around and saw people on their laptops and cell phones, sipping, typing, reading, the usual coffee house verbs. Wirt walked up to the counter and ordered some sort of complicated drink, the same complicated drink he always got at this coffee house. He handed the cashier his card and a moment later someone new handed him his drink, the same exchange that always happened.

Wirt blew on his drink and scanned the coffee house looking for the person who might have sent him that call. As he looked he felt his phone buzz in his pocket, a text from his boss, asking him where he disappeared off to. Wirt noted the text, but ultimately ignored it. He looked at the booths of people, most filled by up to 4 people on some sort of electronical device, but there was one person who was reading a book of all things instead. Boldly, Wirt slid and sat down across from the man at the booth. He did not recognize the man, but something told Wirt that this was the guy who called him.

The man peered up from his book.

Wirt looked back at him and said, "Yes, hello, are you the person who wanted to meet here? I'm Wirt Wood..."

The man slowly closed his book and sat it down, squinting his eyes at Wirt, leaning his head back and rubbing his chin. Finally he said, "Yes, that would indeed be me." The man was then silent again as he stared down Wirt.

Wirt suddenly felt like he had made a horrible mistake as he sat in the booth awkwardly, silent with the total stranger. It suddenly occurred to Wirt that this guy must have known of him somehow, he got Wirt's number somehow, and knew that he went to this coffee shop... This was all of a sudden very weird for Wirt. "Ummm... What exactly do you want from me?" Wirt asked the man.

The man looked back at him and said, "I want to tell you a story Wirt..."

Wirt's face dropped. He looked back at that text from his boss, and then looked back at the man... "Look I really don't have time for this," Wirt said as he picked himself out of the booth and started to walk away from the table.

"No time for the unknown?" The man called back to Wirt

With those words spoken, Wirt froze solid. He hadn't even thought about the unknown in years, Greg would bring it up to Wirt now and again, but they hadn't spoken in some time... Wirt turned his head to look back at the man, "What did you say?"

The old man smiled and noded, "I thought that might get your attention..."

Wirt sat back down at the booth and folded his hands in front of him on the table, setting his coffee down first. "Alright, tell me who you are, and what's going on..."

The man waved his hand and said, "Now now your getting ahead of things, the story first..."

Wirt sighed, "Alright... Okay... So this story, how does it start?"

The old man chuckled, "Well this story starts... Well it starts the same way yours did, lost in the woods..."


End file.
